Hey guys, I'm currently in the process of writing a novel about a rather unconventional apocalypse, and I need some info about the timeline of guns. I've looked online, but the particular details I need are sparse for this particular question.

Basically, the setting of the book is a mild version of an "Alternate Earth". It's mostly the same, but with two main differences:

Number 1: The world's religions are completely different; all existing religions are replaced with fictional ones unique to the book's universe

And number 2, which is the one I'd like your input on, is the invention of a fabric in 1961, with such incredibly high tensile strength that it was, for all intents and purposes, impossible to pierce through force alone; it had to be cut, exploiting it's comparatively weak shear strength.

As a result of this, armor made out of the fabric essentially rendered explosion-propelled bullets useless in warfare, leading to a sort of Armaments Renaissance, where a large assortment of medieval weaponry was revived, and people raced to develop the new modern projectile weapon.

I'm certain that this is physically impossible and nonsensical on some level (and I'd love to hear your explanations of why), but I chose to do this as a stylistic choice, as it tends to be way too easy to kill somebody with a gun, and the survivors of the story's apocalypse are scarce to begin with. I honestly just wanted to know how advanced the specs would be for the various firearm types in 1961, like round capacity, ease of reloading, accuracy and penetrative power, in case I decide to show an "antique" firearm at some point in the story (as I very well might). Any information you can offer would be greatly appreciated, and thank you for your time!

Babyfacenelson

10-03-2012 09:29 PM

Old blunder bussess and smooth bore would shoot almost anything you shoved down the barrel.
Glass, nails, broken blades.
Could work, not modern, but it's better than a knife

SDJonathan

10-03-2012 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Babyfacenelson
(Post 963191)

Old blunder bussess and smooth bore would shoot almost anything you shoved down the barrel.
Glass, nails, broken blades.
Could work, not modern, but it's better than a knife

Very interesting info!

What kind of reloading time are we talking here? Is this before or after guns could shoot more frequently than a bow and arrow?

Babyfacenelson

10-03-2012 09:51 PM

Nope. An arrow with some sort of very sharp peircing point would be "better" most of the time for penetrating the armor you described.
These guns could take 20seconds to 2minutes to reload..

SDJonathan

10-03-2012 10:14 PM

Thanks for the info, while it wasn't entirely what I asked, it was indeed very interesting and helpful information I intend to make use of :)

On topic though, what were firearms like in the early 1960s in terms of round capacity, reloading speed, accuracy and penetrative power?

rocshaman

10-03-2012 10:20 PM

Or you could consider a spear gun of some sort. Essentially the spear could be propelled by an explosive charge. And I think spear guns have been around since at least the 50's. As far as firearms go they've been fairly advanced since the start of the 20th century. 1911 pistols, M1 carbine fromm wwii, high power rifles such as winchester 70, Remington, all sort of revolvers and semi-autos. Depends on what you want.

Right, so it seems that even 1960s firearms would be a force to be reckoned with against non-armored targets, much better than the weapons people would be using, so a civilian who got his hands on one would certainly be able to do some damage with it if he were so inclined. Fortunately, they wouldn't be all that common in the story's universe.

I'm considering that firearms (but not other weapons) would be illegal for anybody, even soldiers and law enforcement officers, to carry in my story's setting, mostly because they'd be useless against any armored person, and thus the only use it could have would be against unarmored civilians. 2nd Amendment rights would thus be applied to modern firearm substitutes, as well as melee weapons and bows.

Does that sound logical, or should I just have their obsolescence alone do the job?

Thanks for your help guys!

orangello

10-03-2012 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDJonathan
(Post 963299)

mostly because they'd be useless against any armored person, and thus the only use it could have would be against unarmored civilians. 2nd Amendment rights would thus be applied to modern firearm substitutes, as well as melee weapons and bows.

Does that sound logical, or should I just have their obsolescence alone do the job?

Thanks for your help guys!

If a person is shot in the chest with a 12 guage slug at fairly close range, i'm not sure if it would matter if they were armored by "soft"/impenetrable armor, as the force of the impact could probable cause enough internal injuries and bleeding to kill them anyway. Not to mention, even a 9mm would probably put most people on their butts, screaming in pain for a minute. http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f12/random-thoughts-thread-11615/index1546.html look at this test on clay block.

Many "bullet resistant" vests available today are not "stab proof". It is my understanding that correctional officers usually use something specifically made with points/blades in mind.

SDJonathan

10-03-2012 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orangello
(Post 963332)

If a person is shot in the chest with a 12 guage slug at fairly close range, i'm not sure if it would matter if they were armored by "soft"/impenetrable armor, as the force of the impact could probable cause enough internal injuries and bleeding to kill them anyway. Not to mention, even a 9mm would probably put most people on their butts, screaming in pain for a minute.

Many "bullet resistant" vests available today are not "stab proof". It is my understanding that correctional officers usually use something specifically made with points/blades in mind.

Yep, I suspected as much, I figured that this kind of event would be incredibly unrealistic. I'm gonna go through with it anyway though, since the setting it results in is something I find interesting.